neutral ? (how long can you idle in neutral)

[starcraft21foot]

I have a question with a sei 106 outdrive.
I am considering when I am drift fishing for halibut of leaving the outdrive in neutral and engine idling. I always shut the engine down to drift, but since sometimes an engine won't start once shut off I might decide to leave the engine idling since I fish 15-20 miles off shore.
Unless of course there is a chance of hurting the outdrive.
Thanks,

[Bt Doctur]

drive

"engine won't start once shut off I might decide to leave the engine idling since I fish 15-20 miles off shore."
Wont hurt it a bit BUT I would fix the starting issue before I venture 20 miles out.

[starcraft21foot]

so far it has always started

Boat has always started, I have 2 batteries, fairly new starter, and I found that if I let the engine cool down for 2-4 min (idle) it starts better. Think gas boils out of the carb if it is shut down hot.
However there are times when an engine is shut off and it won't start, but was running fine when you shut it off. So just something I wanted to consider especially if my drifts are say 15 min or so long, I might just leave it idle.
I thought I had read some where in a manual that letting it idle in neutral for a long time was bad, but with gears, bearings, and such this did not make sense.